On June 19, 2013, Robert Zoellick, former president of the World Bank, former U.S. Trade Representative, and former Deputy Secretary of State gave a global perspective of what the Trans-Pacific Partnership could mean for future trade negotiations followed by a distinguished group of panelists who spoke on the important aspects of a future trade model and how the Trans-Pacific Partnership fits into other regional trade agreements.

The United States is one of the largest energy consumers and biggest contributors of greenhouse gases worldwide. In 2011, the U.S. generated 42 percent of its electricity from coal and only 13 percent through renewables, chiefly hydropower.

The Canada Institute launched the 16th issue of its One Issue, Two Voices series in Toronto on May 22, 2013. Addressing the problem of executive labor mobility, the publication and the panel addressed the barriers that professionals face when crossing the Canada-U.S. border on business. The moderator, Eileen Martin, who has extensive experience in immigration law as well as at border crossings as a customs agent, discussed the reality of what happens at the border; the two authors discussed the challenges faced by their members.

The Canada Institute and the China Environment Forum are honored to host a distinguished panel for a discussion on the energy-water nexus that exists within the China-North America relationship. Our panelists will examine the ways that North American energy exports impact water and energy use in China, as well as the ways that these exports are changing American and Canadian use of water domestically.

Both Canada and the United States have largely been shaped by immigration. However, we must look more closely at subnational population trends to understand how migration and immigration are changing the political, economic, and transportation futures of our countries and to truly understand how the movement of people shapes North America. Please join our distinguished panel to discuss Fazley Siddiq’s new paper comparing these population shifts and other related issues.

On April 16, 2013, the Canada Institute hosted its fourteenth Cross-Border Forum on Energy Issues. This year’s program, “Cyber Security and the North American Electric Grid” assembled key stakeholders, academics, and government policy makers for an off-the-record discussion on the vital but potentially vulnerable electric grid shared by Canada and the United States. The assembled participants concluded that despite decades of cooperation more must be done to confront emerging cyber security issues in the energy sector.